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OPINION

Roberts: Ducey, the governor who brought us self-driving cars, now suspends Uber testing

Tempe police have released two angles of a fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber SUV and a pedestrian on March 18, 2018.

Laurie Roberts: Doug Ducey, the governor who turned us into guinea pigs, now suspends Uber from testing its self-driving cars in Arizona.

Gov. Doug Ducey talks about the addition of three Uber self-driving vehicles, which were delivered to Arizona on Dec. 23, 2016, just days after California rejected the cars for driverless testing.(Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)

Ducey bragged about lack of regulation

“Arizona welcomes Uber self-driving cars with open arms and wide-open streets,” Ducey said at the time. “While California puts the brakes on innovation and change with more bureaucracy and more regulation, Arizona is paving the way for new technology and new businesses.”

The Ducey administration actually bragged about its lack of oversight of driverless vehicles.

"Part of what makes Arizona an ideal place for Uber and other companies to test autonomous vehicle technology is that there are no special permits or licensing required," the Arizona Department of Transportation said, in a December 2016 press release.

"In Arizona, autonomous vehicles have the same registration requirements as any other vehicle, and nothing in state law prevents testing autonomous vehicles.”

No oversight from Arizona

Earlier this month, Ducey went a step further, issuing a new executive order decreeing that self-driving cars no longer need a driver behind the wheel, as long as they follow all the traditional traffic laws and rules for cars and drivers.

"As technology advances, our policies and priorities must adapt to remain competitive in today’s economy,” Ducey said. “This executive order embraces new technologies by creating an environment that supports autonomous vehicle innovation and maintains a focus on public safety.”

Now Elaine Herzberg is dead.

It’ll be up to the National Transportation and Safety Board to sort out what happened here.

But it’s clear that part of what happened is a company that was allowed to operate on a hope that everything would work out but no real oversight to ensure that Arizonans would be safe while testing proceeded.

Uber is not Ducey's first gamble

It’s not the first time Ducey’s preoccupation with bypassing government has caused problems.

Remember Theranos?

Ducey and the Legislature in 2015 cleared the way for Theranos to operate in our state, pushing though a new law that allowed consumers to purchase lab tests from a company without a doctor’s orders.

As a result of Ducey's zeal for eliminating government regulation, Arizonans became the guinea pigs for Theranos, which rolled out its unproven technology at Walgreen stores across metro Phoenix and in 40 wellness centers.

Then came word that some of the test results were inaccurate, putting patients at risk of having their conditions misdiagnosed.